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Welcome to the nexus of ethics, psychology, morality, philosophy and health care

Thursday, May 5, 2016

We are zombies rewriting our mental history to feel in control

By Matthew HutsonDaily News
Originally posted April 15 2016

Here is an excerpt:

Another possibility, one Bear prefers, is that we misperceive the order of events in the moment due to inherent limitations in perceptual processing. To put it another way, our brain isn’t trying to trick us into believing we are in control – just that it struggles to process a rapid sequence of events in the correct order.

Such findings may also imply that many of the choices we believe we make only appear to be signs of free will after the fact.

Everyday examples of this “postdictive illusion of choice” abound. You only think that you consciously decided to scratch an itch, make a deft football play, or blurt out an insult, when really you’re just taking credit for reflexive actions.